Uworld

Why should I use it

As you all by now should have guessed that Qbanks, specifically Uworld, have been widely acclaimed as the best resource for Step 1. By why is that? If you haven’t read my short introduction for Uworld, in my resource section, the you can check that out.

Otherwise here are some more reasons why it is simply the best way to go

1. Convenient

It’s available on your computer, on your tablet and on your phone. So you can sit at your desk to do questions, you can have lunch and do questions, you can even do questions while waiting for your doctor’s appointment, just be sure to remember to review them and make notes at a later time.

2. It’s basically a Textbook

Each question has its own page of explanation, so if we count up all the questions and say that 1-2 questions equal a page worth of information (since some explanations may be similar) then we have a book ranging anywhere from 1250 – 2500 pages

3. It gives you great explanations

The amazing thing about uworld is that it not only gives you the learning objective but also shows you why your answer was wrong. In addition, they have some pretty nifty tables and diagrams that you can’t find anywhere else. It is difficult to save these images, but perhaps you can copy the tables or figure out a way to do so, just don’t get yourself banned.

4. Each question has its own references

For this reason, uworld is the “go to” resource when you are conflicted between information from various sources. Always go with uworld since they frequently update their questions and if you are confused to why it is one way and not the other, then click on the link and briefly skim the article.

5. It’s fair

There was seldom a question that after reading it, I had no idea what they were asking. And to top it off, I knew that if I didn’t know a question, then it was because I simply didn’t know the information or that I failed to read something important in the question. In this way, it minimizes your frustration and you can quickly assess the problem and move to fixing it.

6. It preps you for the real test.

Most qbanks use the FRED software so this is no surprise. But in addition to that, the questions tend to prepare you for how STEP 1 questions will be. Note carefully however that there is still a distinct difference between the two. At this time, I’m not able to put my finger on it, but the fact is that uworld trains you to think in the way that Step 1 wants you to think. I guess if I had to say then I would say Step 1 questions direct you to think more about a specific diagnosis or point while uworld adds a few tricks, question variation and ambiguity that forces you to either eliminate wrong answers or make a judgement call and pick an answer most similar to want they want